South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c9.s8.2

c9.s8.2

Sōmāskanda is the most common of all the sportive forms of Siva. Its design is as old as the Pallava period and it may be found on the back wall of the sanctum immediately behind the linga in almost every temple which pretends to belong to that age. The group, e.g., is found engraved on the back wall of a niche in the second storey of the Dharmarāja-ratha at Mahābalipuram which, according to an inscription cut on the lintel, was apparently intended to be a shrine for the Siva-linga called Atyantakāma-Pallavēśvara. It is also seen on the back wall of the Siva shrine facing the sea, in the “Shore Temple.” The Sāluvankuppam cave, called Atirana-chanda-Pallavēśvara, also has the same image. A similar panel is also found in the Kailāsanātha temple at Kānchī. Later Chōla temples, however, do not show any such panel on the wall behind the linga. On one and the same pedestal are seen Siva and Umā with the child Skanda standing (or seated) between them. Both the god and the goddess are seated comfortably (*sukhāsana*), with one leg (right in the case of Siva and left in the case of Pārvatī) hanging down and the other bent crosswise so as to lie flat on the pedestal. The god holds in his upper hands the *tanka* (or, the axe) and the deer and in the lower exhibits the *varada* and the *abhaya* postures. The goddess holds a lily in her right hand and shows the *varada* or the *kataka* pose¹ in her left (fig. 67). She may sometimes also be represented as resting the palm of her left hand on the pedestal by the side of her left thigh while the right hand, as before, holds the lily. Skanda has the crown *karandamakuta* and holds in one of his hands a flower, a wood-apple or a mango. According to the *Karanagama* the group must be flanked by two standing or seated figures called Bhoga-Sakti and Vira-Sakti on the left and right sides respectively.² It is also stated that the right side of the pedestal on which the god sits is to be slightly higher than the left.